Vincy Jewels aim to remain OECS netball champions

NETBALL OFFICIALS in St Vincent and the Grenadines aim to successfully defend their title of Netball Champions of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), when they contest the 5th ECCB International Netball Series which opens in Grenada on August, 23, 2025.

President of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Netball Association, Natasha Baptiste, is confident that the ‘Vincy Jewels’ team will not only successfully defend the crown, “but they are going to put on a performance that we’ve never seen before”.

Baptiste made the bold statement at a meet-andgreet session with Minister of Sports, Orando Brewster, on Tuesday August, 19, 2025 at the Nutricia Netball Centre where the team was having its final practise session. Minister Brewster was equally confident stating: “I know that the trophy is only going over there to say hello, but it’s coming back here to St.Vincent and the Grenadines”.

He also spoke of his pride in the team.

“… this team is a special team as it relates to my government. Sometimes they say we study netball too much, but there’s no such thing as studying netball too much”, the minister declared.

One of the two debutants in the Vincy Jewels team, Phiunza La Borde who captained SVG to netball success in the just concluded 2025 CBN/ WINLOTTWindward Islands School Games, said while this is her first time playing with the senior team, she is expecting the entire party to do well.

“I expect my senior players and friends to go out and do well like they always do.”

In the 2024 tournament held in Saint Lucia,Vincy Jewels played unbeaten.

The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB), in collaboration with the Caribbean Netball Association and Netball Grenada is hosting the International Netball Series which runs from August 23 to August 31, 2025 at the Tanteen Netball Facility in St George’s, Grenada.

Seven teams from ECCB member countries—Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, the Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, Saint Lucia, and St Vincent and the Grenadines—will compete for the prestigious Gloria Ballantyne Championship trophy. The ECCB said in a release that this year’s

tournament will also feature visiting teams from Barbados, Cayman Islands and Guyana.These teams will seek to enhance their international netball ranking.

The Vincy Jewels team, which leaves today, August, 22, for Grenada has two new faces in the lineup in Jueneka Quow, and Phiunza La Borde.

The rest of the squad reads: Annicia Dallaway; Jo Maria Quashie; Kaywanna Charles; Keleshia Barbour; Kristiana Christopher; Kyila Miller; Mary-ann Frederick, Co-Captain; Shellisa Davis, Co-Captain; Rosannia Stephens; Shania Pompey; and Shanique De Shong.

The Management Team comprises Juovanie Charles-Roberts,Team Manager; Natasha Baptiste, Coach; Javed Marksman, Primary Care Provider; and Javon Edwards, Masseuse.

The tournament opens with an official ceremony, and at its close, netballers and officials will participate in a personal developmental session on the topic: Linking Sustainability and Netball. Climate Change Expert and Media Advisor, Steve Maximay, will facilitate the session.